


Three Hunters

by PhantomPhan16



Category: Jaws (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 14:49:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12961743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomPhan16/pseuds/PhantomPhan16
Summary: I'm not sure about the title, but this is a what if Brody had managed to save Quint.





	Three Hunters

Quint and Brody didn't have much time to process or mourn Hooper as they let the empty cage drop. The shark came up out of the water and onto the stern of the Orca, tipping her.

Brody half threw himself and half fell into the cabin. Quint tumbled down in the doorway, catching it and pulling himself up as Brody clung with one hand to the section where the broken radio sat. He could see Quint was slipping, and if the older man slipped fully he would slide right to the shark, to certain death.

The storage closet opened, dumping everything in it, including Hooper's second tank, onto them and the submerging deck of the ship where the shark writhed, trying to dislodge to the two men.

Something came over the chief of police when Quint craned his neck back and wide, terrified blue eyes met his own frightened brown ones. Quint's speech the previous night about his time after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis came back to Brody. For all his fear of the water and sharks, Quint's was greater still. He swung himself and let go, sliding to stop himself with his feet braced against the wall on either side of the door way, his legs laying over Quint's arms.

The shark hunter grabbed Brody's legs, easier to hold than the wall, and the chief bent forward to slide his own arms under Quint's and wrap his arms around the man's chest. Adrenaline was surging through him, and Martin was sure that under normal circumstances he would never been able to do something like this. He hauled backwards, pulling Quint deeper into the cabin, away from the shark, and on top of himself.

The shark finally slid off the Orca, and she leveled out some, though she was still sinking. The two man scrambled up, panting and white faced.

"... Thanks, Chief."

He nodded.

"We need to kill it, Quint, or that won't have made a different."

The cabin was now partly full of water, and they both went under in search of anything useful. The shark crashed through the side, almost directly into Brody. He shot up, a scream lodging in his throat. Then Quint appeared, the second tank in and bashed the shark in the nose a few times before throwing the tank into its mouth as it slid back off the boat.

The two men, clutching all they could grab as the ship began to sing faster, climbed out through the window of the cabin. Brody had Quint's rifle, and Quint held the boat hook.

"C'mon, Chief, up the mast! Hurry now!" he barked.

Brody scrambled up the listing mast, Quint directly behind him, so close he was actually over the chief's legs. That proved useful when the shark reappeared right under them. Martin slipped in surprise, and Quint pressed his body against the chief, pushing him firmly into the mast, even as the hunter jabbed down at the shark until it yanked the hook from him and disappeared under.

They went the last little ways up as the shark circled back around, and Brody took aim with the rifle.

"Come on, show me the tank."

Quint was against his back, and an odd calm had come over him. His breathing was steady against Martin's back.

"Easy, Chief."

Martin was trembling, through. Minutely, but the tremble was there. If they didn't kill the shark this time the next pass would kill one or both of them. He fired, but missed. Again and again, miss after miss as the shark came ever closer and they sank lower and lower.

"Chief, focus."

Quint's voice was steady, and his breathing and heartbeat were too. There was a confidence in the chief of police that had not been there before. Brody stared hard at the shark as it tilted its head a little, and he saw the tell-tale shine.

"Smile, you son of a bitch!"

The gunshot was nothing more than a firecracker popping compared to the explosion that followed. Water, blood, and chunks of shark rained down, and the two men screamed in pure joy and relief, grabbing each other and thumping each other on the back at their victory.

Quint looked a little to the side, and he lit up even more, laughing almost hysterically.

"Hooper!"

Brody turned to see a very much alive Hooper swimming towards them, grinning. They enjoyed a moment of reunion before tying two barrels to some wood from the Orca and paddling back towards Amity Island.

They crawled onto the beach, exhausted, some hours later, but still in high spirits. They collapsed on the sand, which immediately stuck to their wet clothes and bodies, but they were smiling. They were home and safe, and they were all alive.


End file.
